Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Koons | Lt. Cmdr. Adam Goldberg from USS Wasp interacts with students at Fern Grove Basic...... read more read more
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OCHO RIOS, Jamaica — Sailors and Marines from Task Group 40.7 delivered gifts and medical supplies to young school children and hospital patients in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Nov. 20, helping to foster relationships between the two cultures.
At the Fern Grove Basic School, whose students' ages range from three to five, the Sailors and Marines passed out backpacks filled with school supplies and teddy bears donated from Hugs Across America. Jamaican government officials who attended the event, including Jamaica's First Lady Lorna Golding, expressed gratitude for the donations.
"Early childhood schools are community centered in Jamaica, so we're grateful any time people can come here to help out," said Julia English, Senior Education Officer for the Jamaican Ministry of Education's Early Childhood Unit Region III.
According to English, the presence of the Sailors and Marines also served as an educational opportunity for the children.
"We always tell our students about the U.S. military, but today, they got to see them live and in living color," she said. "The children were very excited to have them here."
The Fern Grove volunteers said they enjoyed interacting with the children.
"It was great to see them receive all those gifts," said Sgt. Quinton Harris of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461. "They were all very appreciative of what we did."
After the Fern Grove event was over, some of the Sailors and Marines went to St. Ann's Bay Regional Hospital to present a gift of basic medical supplies to Jamaica's Northeast Regional Health Authority. The 41 pallets of medical supplies, medicine and hygiene products came from Project Handclasp, which is a partnership amongst the military and other organizations to deliver humanitarian and goodwill supplies to the people of nations in the Caribbean region, among other regional interests.
"It was a very generous and timely gift," said Marcia Lafayette, St. Ann's Director of Nursing. "It was also a great chance to meet Sailors and Marines and to hear a little bit about what happens on a Navy ship. I hope that this wasn't just a one shot deal, that the Navy will continue to do these kinds of activities with us."
Suzette Morris, NRHA's regional director, agreed with Lafayette that the St. Ann's event was a chance for both the Wasp participants and their Jamaican hosts to better understand each other.
"It's a great partnership that we're developing with the U.S. Navy," said Morris. "USS Hawes was here in August, and we also got some basic medical supplies from them. Events such as this allow you to see the Navy's humanitarian side."
Cmdr. Dean Hoelz, Wasp's command chaplain, said both events benefited all parties involved.
"They were a perfect opportunity to have a cultural exchange and to foster understanding and build better ties between the U.S. and Jamaica," he said.
Wasp is currently deployed on Southern Partnership Station-Amphib 2009 with Destroyer Squadron 40 and embarked Security Cooperation Marine Air-Ground Task Force. SPS is part of the Partnership of the Americas Maritime Strategy that focuses on building interoperability and cooperation in the region to meet common challenges.
| Date Taken: | 11.25.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 11.25.2009 23:09 |
| Story ID: | 42028 |
| Location: | OCHO RIOS, JM |
| Web Views: | 248 |
| Downloads: | 209 |
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